Foundation of Hope
by Shiyaki
Summary: He had just wanted to get some quick breakfast, before going to work, but instead he got a family.


**Disclaimer:** I own neither Harry Potter nor Fullmetal Alchemist and I don't earn any money with this story.

 **Author's note** : I feel kinda bad for writing this instead of working on JPotS, but… well, obviously not bad enough to not write it. Shrug

 **Rating: T**

 **Warning:** Angst

* * *

One moment Maes was stepping into the bakery around the corner from his new flat, in the next his right leg was tackled by a mini-missile. The brunet barely managed to grab the door frame to avoid losing his balance completely and falling over. Hazel eyes looked down in bemusement and landed on a small, dark-haired boy, who had landed on his behind and was blinking a bit dazedly. Fortunately, there weren't tears in sight, however. Maes crouched down in front of the child, the carefree smile on his lips a bit harder to pull off after the horrors he had participated in in Ishval.

"Hey little man, are you alright?" Amber eyes stared back at him, but before the boy had the chance to reply one way or the other, hurried footsteps approached and stopped next to them.

"Teddy, I told you not to play with your ball inside of shops."

Huh, there really happened to be a small, red ball next to Maes' shoe.

"I'm sorry, he gets bored pretty quickly and starts running around. I should probably start thinking about using a leash."

"Ah, no, it's al...right..." Finally letting his gaze wander from the child in front of him to the adult on his right, Maes got captured by the greenest eyes he had ever seen. He may had a... uh... _thing_ for green eyes and breath-taking smiles, both of which were currently directed at him. Struck speechless, the brunet barely noticed the young man next to him urging his son(? There was definitely a family resemblance there) to apologise to the 'nice man' and to pick up his ball, so they could return home, until small hands tugged on his uniform jacket.

"'m sorry, mister." Maes nodded and watched them go, his gaze directed at the window even after the duo was no longer visible. The snickers of the cashier and the other customers finally dragged him out of his dazed state and made him jump to his feet in mortification. "Uh... I-" "Harry comes by every other day at about the same time," the cashier informed him politely, a knowing smile teasing at her lips.

Maes saw a lot of bread and pastries in his unforeseeable future.

* * *

It took two weeks, six trips to the bakery and his bodyweight in pastries until Maes finally managed to stutter out a date invitation. The other customers and the cashier were awww-ing, Harry was looking at him with a 'deer caught in headlights' expression and Teddy was, once again, obliviously playing with his red ball.

Maes kind of wished the ground would open up and swallow him… at least until Harry agreed with a tentative smile and made him (most likely) the happiest man on the planet.

Instead of suggesting a candlelight dinner and/or an evening in the theatre, Maes proposed a picnic in the park to demonstrate his willingness to include Teddy in his life. The brilliant smile he got in return almost brought him to his knees.

On the day of the date the brunet changed his outfit three times (and prayed that he wouldn't make an idiot out of himself), before he ran out of time and had to rush to their meeting point to avoid being late. When he arrived at the gate leading to the park, Harry and Teddy were already waiting for him, the former eyeing him with an amused grin.

"We haven't even started, yet, and it looks like I already managed to take your breath away," the other brunet teased cheekily, kind of blindsiding Maes who, indeed, was trying to get his breath back under control.

Fortunately, he quickly recovered from his surprise and returned the grin with a not quite dopey one of his own.

"Hm, I'd ask you for some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but unfortunately that's a… _lot_ less romantic than it's made out to be."

Harry snorted in amusement but agreed, before catching Teddy, who was in the process of dashing towards an ice cream cart. They entered the park and chose a nice picnic spot, before playing a round of football and indulging in ice cream. When Teddy was napping in one corner of the picnic blanket, they finally had some time for adult conversation.

He learnt that Harry was an author for children's books and that Teddy was actually his godson, for whom he had custody because both of the little boy's parents had died a few months after his birth. The brunet had a brilliant sense of humour and apparently quite a sweet-tooth, especially for Treacle Tart. They also shared a love for reading and promptly exchanged recommendations.

Maes was quite smitten, especially when Harry leant closer, placed a hand on his knee and gave him a somewhat shy smile.

"I don't know about CPR, but… I probably won't be adverse to a parting kiss and another date. For two this time?"

Yes, definitely smitten.

* * *

The first time they shared a bed, it, surprisingly, wasn't _Maes_ who had a nightmare. At first the brunet wasn't even sure what had woken him in the middle of the night, until his still half-asleep mind picked up on the mumbling, hissing and slight trashing next to him.

"…neither can live, while the other survives and one of us…"

Maes blinked at the curious turn of phrase (it certainly sounded like one) and wondered what Harry might be dreaming about, but wasn't in the least inclined to let the other man suffer any longer just to overhear a few more words or sentences. He carefully shook Harry's shoulder until he startled awake and jerked into a sitting position.

"Wha…?"

"You had a nightmare," Maes explained softly, raising his hand to card his fingers through the other man's dark, messy hair. He stopped short, when Harry flinched, his green eyes wide with panic. Unfortunately, Maes was uncertain whether the reaction was due to the unbearable thought of getting touched at the moment or because Harry was horrified that Maes had witnessed his nightmare and might be inquiring about its content.

In any case, he pulled his hand back for now.

Instead Maes carefully shifted into a more comfortable position and raised both arms slightly in an obvious but unobtrusive offer for comfort.

Harry eyed him nervously, but then, after a minute or two, crawled slowly closer and leant his head against Maes' shoulder. The older man released a relieved sigh and wrapped Harry into a snug embrace.

"I won't ask, but if you ever want to tell me, I'll listen, okay?"

Maes decided to take the release of tension in Harry's body and the soft kiss to his collarbone as a 'yes'.

* * *

"And this one's of Teddy on his first day of school. So far he's the best student in his class. Such a little genius," Maes boasted proudly as he shoved yet another photograph at Roy, deliberately ignoring the pulsing vein on his best friend's temple.

"Don't you have actual work to do, Major Hughes? I very much doubt that you've only come to East City to-"

"Of course, I do. I'm basically drowning in work," Maes agreed readily, shuffling through the stack of photographs in his hand, until the topmost was the one of Harry napping adorably on the settee, which he promptly held out to Roy.

"You know, you should settle down with someone soon. They won't be as perfect as Harry, but-"

"If you don't leave my office within the next ten seconds, I'm trying my new pair of ignition gloves out on _you_."

* * *

It wasn't like Maes _hadn't_ _noticed_ the oddities and omissions; he was a part of Investigations and had a certain knack for detecting small details, after all. He had just… decided to turn a blind eye on them or, if that didn't work, rationalise them as best as possible. The broken cup, which had been whole again the next day and Teddy's favourite shirt, which now sported the small depiction of a badger on the right sleeve, could be attributed to Harry's alchemist friends. The nightmares, scars and the unwillingness to talk about his past (except for a few anecdotes) could stem from trauma. God knew _Maes_ wasn't a big fan of talking about his painful and horrible memories.

What he couldn't, _wouldn't_ ignore, though, were the differences in Teddy's looks. The changes weren't too obvious at first glance, but they were certainly there in the lighter shade of his hair, the higher position of his cheekbones and the slightly different angle of his eyes. Had the changes happened during a period of several month or even weeks, then Maes probably wouldn't have noticed them, but they had happened within a day. Teddy looked a bit like a not quite perfect copy of himself, even though he still acted the same as always.

Maes shied away from the most gruesome conclusions his brain was trying to point him at and resolved to talk to Harry after Teddy had gone to bed. He'd get an explanation and he hoped, with all his heart, that it wouldn't cost him the love of his life.

"Harry, would you like to tell me why today Teddy looked different than usual?"

He half-expected Harry to play dumb or offer him a bullshit excuse, but the other brunet, who had frozen at the question, just took off his glasses and rubbed both hands over his face with a resigned sigh.

"I was born in a small town called Godric's Hollow…"

Harry continued to tell him about Voldemort, the man, who had killed his parents but had failed to kill him. About his awful childhood in his aunt's house and his school years filled with dangerous, huge beasts and psychopaths out to kill him, devastating losses and _magic_ (Seriously, what the _hell_?). He spoke of prophecies and his year on the run to find **pieces of soul** , which had ended in a war in which not only Teddy's parents, numerous innocent people and Voldemort had died, but also _Harry_ (if only for a short period of time). Finally the brunet explained how a weird magical mirror in his family vault had transported both Teddy (apparently a metamorphmagus, therefore someone with the ability to change their appearance at will) and him to Amestris ( a _freaking different dimension_ ) by accident. With no means to return home, Harry had forged identification documents with magic and settled down in Central City.

When he finished his story at last, it was long after midnight and the wizard was exuding an air of utter defeat and bone-deep fatigue. Maes, on the other hand, was quite overwhelmed. This wasn't even close to what he had expected, but… he was pretty sure Harry had told him the truth no matter how mind-boggling it had turned out to be.

It would probably take quite some time, before his mind had processed the barrage of new (and startling) information, but there was at least one thing he could do before then.

Maes kidnapped Harry's hands to his side of the kitchen table and peppered the knuckles with kisses, then raised his gaze to the other man's astonished one.

"Thank you for trusting me, love." Because he knew, all too well, that Harry wouldn't have told him otherwise, even if it meant leaving.

The next morning Maes went to work and made sure that nobody would ever find out that Harry and Teddy hadn't been born in Amestris.

* * *

Trying to ignore the sharp pain from the stab wound on his shoulder, Maes swiftly flipped through his notebook in search of the code that would let him talk to Roy.

Why did he have to put up with such nonsense at a critical time like this, damn it!?

"Uncle-Sugar-Oliver-Eight-Zero-Zero!"

His code got approved, but before the line could be connected to Roy, the safety of a gun clicked behind Maes, startling him. Adrenaline had long since flooded his body, but now his heart was just about ready to jump out of his chest.

When he chanced a look behind himself, it turned out to be Maria Ross who was aiming a gun at him or, rather, an imperfect impersonation of her (It was a truly stupid mistake to forget the prominent birthmark just under the Second Lieutenant's left eye).

When he pointed the oversight out to the imposter, Ross' lips curled into a cruel smirk as she (he, it?) raised two fingers towards her face.

"Huh? Really? I was careless." She tapped the blank spot under her left eye and instead of the smooth change he was used to from Teddy, the birthmark came into being with a cracking of skin and a flash of red light.

But shapeshifter or not, injury or not, Maes wasn't about to just roll over and die. He had people to protect and a family to return home to!

The brunet dropped the telephone handset and flicked his wrist to move one of his hidden knifes into his hand, but before he had the chance to take action, the body in front of him lit up once more and the all too familiar green eyes of Harry were looking back at him.

Maes froze in mid-motion, overwhelmed by utter horror and his breath stuck in his throat.

"You're not going to stab your partner, are you, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" Not-Harry mocked with an almost innocent smile on his lips, which quickly transformed into the cruel smile he had already experienced on Ross' face. The finger on the trigger seemed to move in slow motion, but Maes was incapable of preventing his now certain death by attacking the image of the man he loved, even though he was well aware that this was an imposter.

A crack sounded through the otherwise almost silent night and at first the brunet figured it had come from the gun, but then Not-Harry was hit by a beam of blue light and blasted to the side, while a bullet grazed the lamppost next to the phone box (so there _had_ been a shot fired).

Maes glanced to the spot the attack had come from, unwilling to take his eyes off the shapeshifter completely, but when he recognised the newcomer, he had to do a double take and his heart just… stopped (at least it felt like it).

Harry, _his_ Harry, stood at the corner of the street, a furious expression etched on his face and his wand gripped tightly at chest-height.

No.

 _ **No!**_

This couldn't be happening! This was so much worse than facing his death!

"What are you doing here!? Get back, Harry! **Clear out**!" Maes shouted, _begged_ , but the other brunet shook his head, his gaze never straying from the shapeshifter who wore his face and was eying Harry curiously.

"I sure as hell won't leave you alone with this gross… _thing_."

"Ah, ah, no need to insult yourself. You don't look _that_ bad," Not-Harry rebuked mockingly, while getting up from the ground and lazily dusting himself off. "This is a surprise, though. I'll have to let Father know, as soon as I've dealt with you two. Lovely, isn't it? Now you can die at the same time and won't have to miss each other," and with those words the shapeshifter fired its gun at Harry, who quickly erected a shield, which effectively stopped the bullet without letting it ricochet.

Without pause, Harry sent a barrage of different spells at his opponent, who flipped and dodged out of the way of most of them. A few connected, but the resulting burns and cuts, no matter how server, barely slowed the creature down and seconds later the injuries had already healed.

"This is becoming bothersome…" Another flash of red light and Maes was staring at a perfect copy of himself, albeit sans the shoulder wound. Not-Maes grinned cockily at Harry, one hand propped against his hip. "Now then, shall we put an end to-" Green light engulfed the shapeshifter, which probably didn't even have enough time to comprehend what was happening, before it crumbled to dust with one last flicker of red light.

Maes didn't spare it a single glance as he hurried over to his partner, who was staring at the now empty spot with haunted eyes, his face chalk-white and his hands trembling. He had only just wrapped his arms around the other brunet, when Harry's legs folded and because Maes' injury made supporting his weight difficult, he carefully settled them on the pavement. Harry's wand clattered to the ground and in the next moment the wizard desperately fisted both hands into the back of Maes' uniform jacket, burrowing his face into the uninjured side of his neck.

Maes closed his eyes in self-loathing. This was his fault. Had he got rid of the threat in a timely manner (or _at all_ ), Harry wouldn't have been in danger, wouldn't have had to fight against such a dangerous opponent, wouldn't have had to _kill_ someone, _something_ , that looked like _him_. Worst of all with the _Killing Curse_ , because the damn thing **wouldn't stay down**.

Ignoring the sharp stab of pain, Maes tightened his embrace and pressed his lips against the other man's temple. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry you had to do that."

For a long moment Harry didn't move, but then he loosened his grip and leant back far enough to enfold Maes' face with his hands. His own was still pale and his lips slightly trembling, but his eyes were dry and resolute.

"I'd do it again. I'd fight a _whole damn army of those things_ to keep you safe. You're not allowed to die on me, do you hear me!"

Maes gasped into the forceful press of lips that could barely be considered a kiss. He didn't mind, though, it was a good reminder that both of them, against all odds, were still alive.

When Harry pulled back again, he grimly eyed the still sluggishly bleeding wound on Maes' shoulder. "We should get that seen to. I can probably heal it, but it may be better if a doctor takes a look at it. Ms. Devaney is watching Teddy, so we can go right away."

"Ah… I'd rather you healed it instead of going to the hospital, especially the military hospital. I want to avoid the attention for the moment," Maes admitted and apropos… hadn't he tried calling Roy, before everything had gone even more downhill? "But let me first check if Roy's on the line. Can you stand?"

Harry pursed his lips, but nodded, before picking up his wand and struggling to his feet. "And then you can tell me what's going on. That thing felt disgusting, almost worse than a Horcrux."

Maes blinked in surprise, a bit blindsided. Leave it to Harry to _feel_ the wrongness of that creature. "I will and you can tell me how you knew that something's wrong and where to find me, love." He actually wouldn't be surprised if the brunet had tagged him with some charms to keep him safe. Shaking his head, Maes returned to the phone box and picked up the handset.

"Roy, are you there? Yes, I… Listen, we have a problem..."

* * *

„Maes."

„Hm?" The brunet lazily turned his head towards the hospital bed next to his and focussed on the black and white blob that Roy turned into, when Maes wasn't wearing his glasses.

"If… _When_ we've beat Father, Wrath and Pride and I've become Führer… you better make me your best man at your wedding."

"What? But…" Maes blinked in surprise. Roy _knew_ , just as well as he, that he _couldn't_ marry Harry and have it legally recognised. Maes had whine about it often enough, after all. Why would Roy-

Oh.

Well, there had to be _some_ personal advantages to being best friends with the leader of the country, right?

Swallowing thickly, Maes sent Roy a half grateful, half amused smile, but couldn't help adding: "Then we better kick some homunculus arse quickly, so you can catch the bridal bouquet and finally settle down yourself."

"Oh? You've never told me about your wish to change your gender. Or is it just the crossdressing you're interested in?"

Maes spluttered, but, well, he had kind of deserved that.

* * *

"You may now kiss each other."


End file.
